Collapsible derrick



Oct. 24, 1939.

lA. HYNEs COLLAPS IBLE DERRICK Filed Feb. 17, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oct.24, 1939. A. HAYNES COLLAPSIBLE DERRICK Filed Feb. 17, 1938 3Sheets-Sheet 2 oct. 24, 1939. VA, HAYNES l coLLAPsIBLE DERRIcK FiledFeb. V1'7, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Patented Oct. 24, 1939 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CGLLAPSIBLE DERRICK Albert Haynes, Bay City, Tex.Application February 17, 1938, Serial No. 190,897 4 Claims. (Cl. 189-12)My invention relates to derricks such as are and it is to be understoodthat these sections can employed in well drilling operations. beseparately assembled on the derrick platform,

It is an object of my invention to provide a as shown in Figs. 10 and1l, before they are derrick so constructed that it may be formed inhoisted into position in the assembly of the comsections or unitsadapted to be separately aspleted device. sembled and then erected onthe location. With reference to Fig. 1, the construction of I desire toprovide separate derrick sections the lower section of the derrick isshown. There which may be collapsed to a certain extent so are fourupwardly inclined legs I which are conthat they may be more readilyhandled. nected in spaced relation to each other by trans- 'lf I have asa further object to connect the verse braces 2, 3 and 4. 10 separateparts which form the derrick in such The lower ends of each of the legsare supportmanner that the complete derrick may be ased upon the derrickplatform indicated at 45 in sembled 'on the floor and the separatesections the drawings. In addition to the transverse then hoisted intoposition and secured rigidly in braces 3 I provide a verticallyextending brace place. 5v which is connected at its lower end to the 15A I desire to provide a derrick whichvmay be brace 4 and extendsupwardly to project someeasily assembled and disassembled for movingwhat beyond the upper brace 2. There are also from one locationtoanother. diagonal braces in the usual manner shown at 6.

It is a further object of the invention to pro- The separate braces maybe secured together in- "f vide a structure of derrick leg which isparticutermediate the legs of the derrick by plates l. 20

larly strong and of light construction and adapt- Any additional bracessuch as are shown at 8 ed for use on a portable type of derrick. may beemployed as desired.

Referring to the drawings herewith, Fig. 1 is a The lower section of thederrick is intended to side elevation` showing the construction of thebe secured rigidly together and the joints belower` section of myimproved derrick. tween the braces and the framework of the der'- 25Fig. 2 is a similar view showing one of the rick are rigidly secured byrivets or bolts indiupper sections forming a portion of the derrick.cated at 9. The upper end of each leg extends Fig. 3 is a view similarto Fig. 2 but showing somewhat above the upper brace and has upthesection partially collapsed. wardly extending plates I thereon toconnect Fig. 4 is a broken detail showing the manner with the next upperadjacent section of the der- 80 of mounting the hoisting deviceemployedin asrick leg. Between the legs on opposite sides, the

sembling the sections in position. extension of the brace 5 holds asupporting post Fig. 5 is an end View of a section of the der- I I uponthe upper end of which is pivoted a rick leg. pulley I2. The post II issecured to the brace 5 l" 1 Figs. 6 and 7 are side views of theconstruction oi' the derrick by means of clamps I3. A cable 85 shown inFig. 5, Fig. 6 showing the section I4 is extended around the pulley I2and the loose y twisted. end may be lowered downwardly for connectionFig. 8 is a longitudinal section of braces emwith the next interiorsection of the derrick ployed in the construction of the derrick, saidwhich is to be hoisted in position above the rst i view being taken onthe line 8-8 of Fig. 9. section. The other end of the cable is extended40 Fig. 9 is a broken side view of one of the joints around a pulley I5at the lower end of the derin one of the braces. rick and the ends ofthe two cables employed Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view showing the areadapted to be engaged by a pulling device relative positions of thesections 'on the derrick whereby the next section may be raised. While iplatform before erection. straps or plates of metal I0 are shown, it is45 Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view showing the difcontemplated that anydesired type of connecferent sections nested together upon the platformtion between adjacent sections may be employed,

before the erection of the derrick. it being desirable to form a strongand rigid Fig. l2 is a side view of the assembled derrick. connection. lI contemplate forming the derrick in longi- In Figs. 2 and 3 a showingis made of the 50 tudinal sections there being as many sections emuppersections of the .derrick and it will be noted ployed as is necessary toobtain the height of the that these sections are intended to becollapsed derrick desired. 4With reference particularly to and that thebrace members connecting the legs Fig, 12 it will be noted that thederrick there I are pivotally connected together.

shown is made up of four superimposed sections With referenceparticularly to the drawings it the two side members of the brace 2b.The

two side members of the brace 2b are formed with inwardly extending lugsI1 shown as arcuate -in shape in Fig. 9 and also the ends of the braceat I8 are bent inwardly to engage with laterally extending lugs I9 onthe brace 2a. It will be seen therefore that when the joint isstraightened out into the positions shown in Figs. 8 and 9 theconnection between the two braces will be comparatively rigid due to theoverlapping ends of the braces and to the engagement between the lugs I1on the brace 2b engaging with the laterally ,curved ends 20 of the brace2a and the similar engagement of the curved ends`I8 of the brace 2b withthe lug I9 upon the brace 2a. y

Between the lower transverse'braces and the next upper set of transversebraces 2a are downwardly inclined brace members 2I. These braces arejointed between their ends, as seen in Fig. 3, and are pivoted at 22 toclamping members 23, which secure it to the derrick leg, and at theother ends they ,are connected to the transverse pivot pin 22a. This pinconnects the lower ends of these opposed jointed braces together.

The upright brace member 5a is provided with slots therein at spacedintervals to receive transverse pins 24 and 21 upon intermediate bracemembers 25 and 25a and transverse pins 26, 28 which connect the ends ofthe intermediate braces 2a. A similar pin 29 in the upper transversebrace 40 is also slidable in the upper slot 30 in the brace 5a. Theseslots or openings 30 in the upright brace member 5a allow for thesliding of the transverse pins therein and the length of these slots issuillcient to provide the necessary movement of the pivot pins thereinwhen the derrick is collapsed and the sectionsI of the'braces are movedtoward each other by the relative upward movement of said member, asshown in Fig. 3. .'I'he lower transverse brace is connected to theupright brace member 5a by the pin I6; this is not a pin-and-slotconnection, but a simple pivotal connection.

In order to collapse the side legs I of the derrick toward each other sothat one section may be assembled within the next lower section, the

brace members will be collapsed into the positionl shown in Fig. 3 andin so doing the transverse pins uponthe brace members-will slide withinthe slots 30 of the upright brace member 5a.

It is to be noted that both the diagonal braces 2I and the intermediatebraces 25 and 25a are jointed between their ends and thus may be moved,as stated, into the Fig. 3 position. When raised into proper positionthe sections may be again moved into 'the position ready for use as seenin Fig. 2. l

At the upper ends of each of the leg sections there are upwardlyextending connecting plates I0, as previously described relative to thelower section.

\ When assembling the Various sections I have,

in Fig. 1l, shown them in nested position upon sections. To do this,however, the sections are c ollaps'ed further than is shown in Fig. 3.This is accomplished bydetaching the ends of the upper brace 40 byremoving the bolts- 4I. allow the legs to be moved further inwardly intoclosely collapsed position so that the unit or section may be betterhandled or transported.

In making up the derrick the lower section of the derrick shown in Fig.1 will be rst erected,

' the parts being assembled rigidly together. Each of the additionalupper sections of the derrick will be assembled one within the other, asshown in Figs. 10 and l1, ready to be hoisted into position and eachsection will be collapsed, as shown in Fig. 3. The ends of the twoopposite cables I4 will then be secured to the outer one of the sectionsand the section will be raised into position so that the lower end ofthe legk section I will abut against the upper end of the lower sectionalready in position. Bolts will be extended through the openings in thebrace plates I0 and through the lower end of the section as shown at 3lin Figs. 2 and 3, andthe p-arts will be thus held together. brace member5a. will be secured to the next upper longitudinal brace member andthederrick will be then ready to receive the next upper section which willbe assembled in the same manner. When the parts are completelyassembled, as shown in Fig. 12, the crown block 32 may be assembledthereon and the derrick will be ready foruse. f

The legs I of the derrick will necessarily sup- There is an inner plate34, which is somewhat- Z-shaped in end view both the side edges of theplate being curved laterally to a slight extentf There is another plate35, which is made in two portions, which when connected with the portion34 at right angles thereto form a type of cross. When these twolongitudinal sections have been secured together the parts arereenforced to strengthen the same by angle iron sections, one in each ofthe angles between the two assembled plates. Each of these angle ironsections' 36 have their ends re-cuived as shown at 31 and 38 tocorrespond to the curvature of the sides ofthe inner plates 34 and 35.The assembled leg is therefore made up of two longitudinal plates set atright anglesI to each other with angle irons in each of the four angleso-f the original plates. The plates or irons making up the leg may bewelded at their margins or may be riveted to- -position to form thecomplete derrick. It will,

This Will Theupper end of the longitudinal lio therefore, be easily andquickly erected and when it becomes necessary to move the derrick fromone location to another it may be easily and quickly disassembled intoseparate sections which maybe then more easily transported. Theadvantages o-f the construction lies in the fact that it may be easilyerected Without-dangerxto thev worker-and is cheap and economical inconstruction.

What is claimed is:`

l. A derrick composed of longitudinal sections mounted in superposedposition tapered upwardly, each section above the lower section havingfour spaced legs, a plurality of transverse braces pivotally connectedto said legs, a joint midway between the ends of said braces except theuppermost one, diagonal braces jointed between their ends, anintermediate upright member, a slotted connection between saidtransverse braces except the lowermost transverse brace and said uprightmember, whereby the relative upward movement o-f said upright memberwill move said braces except the uppermost one to collapse said sectionand move said legs toward each other.

2. A derrick compos-ed of longitudinal sections mounted in superposedposition tapering upwardly, each section above the lower section havingfour spaced legs, a plurality of transverse braces pivotally connectedto said legs, a joint midway between the ends of said braces except theuppermost one, diagonal braces jointed between their ends, anintermediate upright member, slot and pin-means connecting said uprightmember and the joints in said transverse braces, said slots being ofdifferent lengths whereby the upward movement of said member will exsaid joints and collapse said section in the manner described.

3. A derrick including a lower section and a plurality of superposedupper sections diminishing in size upwardly, legs on said sections,means to brace said lower section, a plurality of transverse bracespivotally connected with said legs on said upper sections, said bracesbeing jointed intermediate their ends, except the uppermost brace oneach upper section, diagonal braces jointed intermediate their ends, anupright member midway between each pair of legs, and means o-n saidupright member connected with said transverse braces to flex said jointsand collapse the lower ends of said upper sections transversely, saidupright member having a limited sliding movement relative to theintermediate and uppermost of said transverse braces. l

4. A derrick including a lower section and a plurality of superposedupper sections, legs at the corners of each of said upper' sections,transverse braces and diagonal braces connecting said legs, saidtransverse braces except the uppermost transverse brace on each uppersection being made of two parts, a transverse pivot connecting theadjacent endsI of said parts, each part overlapping the other at saidpivot, laterally extending lugs on each overlapping end and inwardlyextending anges on the adjacent end cooperating to frictionally engagewith said lugs to strengthen the joint.

ALBERT HAYNES.

